Dynasty High?
by Phantom-Koinu
Summary: It's yet another highschool thing- I mean, um... ahem It is a great, silly little romance thingie. As you might have guessed, the DW's have been put up at a modern-day boarding school, and everyone knows it's hard to survive...
1. Are There Any Questions?

Phantom K: Alright, everyone. Here's my first piece on ... I would like to first of all say that DW doesn't belong to me. Am I safe now? No one's going to sue me, right?

Zhang He: WAIT! You must make sure to say that you don't own any portion of the Dynasty Warriors, and that you don't own and characters, and that last night you had a dream about-

Phantom K: slaps hand over his mouth ; Right, now... ahem Thank you, Zhang He, dearest, but that's been covered... Now it's on to the fic!

--Chpt 1. "Are there any questions?"--

"Ew..." Xiao Qiao poked at the cafeteria food with disgust. She grimaced as it stuck to her chop-sticks in large gluey globs. Nothing was more intimidating than the cafeteria food.

"That's why I pack my own things," said Zhen Ji from across the other side of the table, producing a much more appetizing-looking lunch from a brow-paper bag.

Sighing, and dropping her eating-utensils, Xiao stared around the lunch-room. At her table sat Da Qiao, Zhen Ji, Zhou Yu, and Lu Xun. Xiao could see various faces scattered around the room- Zhao Yun... oh, Lu Bu... and there was Sun Ce way off in the corner. Xiao noticed that her sister's gaze was pointed in the same direction- straight at Sun Ce.

Da averted her gaze quickly, and stared down at her food.

"Da, you're so obvious... it's actually kind of funny." Zhen Ji said, smiling and shaking her head.

"Well, rumor has it that you've got your eyes on someone too, Zhen. Watch your step, hm?" Da was red as a cherry, and knew it. "Xiao, you're lucky..."

"Lucky?" Xiao played dumb, but could feel her cheeks tingling a bit. "Why?"

"Ouch..." murmured Zhou Yu, jokingly. Zhou and Xiao had been going out for about a month now, and seemed completely content to say the least. He flashed Xiao a fresh-faced smile and then continued bravely to try and eat the cafeteria food.

Da sighed, "I wish I had as much luck as you..."

Xiao leaned to the side, where Zhou sat until her head rested on his shoulder. "It's not luck, sis," she said after a moment, and felt Zhou's arm make its way around her shoulders. "You have to be brave. Really, it doesn't take that much. All you have to do is ask." She pushed herself up straight, and let Zhou's arm fall away from her. "But Zhen... what's this I hear? The unattainable Zhen Ji has a little crush? It's about time..."

Da giggled and began to sing 'Miss Independent' softly.

Lu Xun opened his mouth in a false expression of surprise. "Really, Zhen, what happened? Where's that strong, one-woman impulse that was so strong in you?"

Zhen Ji managed to remain her usual skin-tone. Very rarely did she blush. "You can't always trust rumors, you know..." she said at last.

The deafening sound of the bell screamed through the cafeteria, and Lu Xun jumped a bit. "What the hell? Did they cut us off 10 minutes?" He rose reluctantly as the others did the same. "I've got history next, who's coming with me?"

"Me!" Xiao followed Lu Xun into the hall, and to the left. Zhou tagged along behind- his next class was in the same direction.

"Oh no!" Cried Da, "I left my binder in my locker!" She made a mad scramble out the door and dashed down the hall. Luckily for her, there were no teachers around to see her do it. _No running in the halls, now._

So Zhen Ji was left standing there as the students rushed around her, and for a long time she did not move. Eventually she heaved a shallow sigh, and picked up her book-bag. Off to Integrated Science.

Integrated Science class was always one of the highlights of the day. After all- the current science unit was chemistry, and there was always something exciting about playing with harmful chemicals. However... today, unfortunately, the usual teacher was sick, and Zhen Ji found herself close to slumber behind the pages of her text-book as the substitute droned on.

Zhen found herself snapped from a colorful day-dream by a sharp voice.

"Are you listening?" It was the substitute, leaning towards her and glaring through her thin rimmed glasses. "How would you make the solution into a 50% concentration?"

Zhen blinked for a moment, and heard a few snickers. This was not like Zhen, as she usually paid close attention in class. "Um... one drop of water, and one drop of the concentration... or any such variables." She said at last.

The replacement teacher pursed her lips and nodded, checking her watch. "We only have about 3 more minutes, so... are there any questions?" She asked briskly, turning her back on Zhen once again.

A slender hand made its way into the air. Zhang He's as Zhen noticed. He wore a distinctive smirk on his face- one the class seemed to recognize and greeted with small muffled giggles. _The poor teacher..._ Zhen thought. Most teachers recognized Zhang He's expressions, but this teacher- a replacement- had no way of knowing.

"Yes." The substitute smiled, but it looked as though she had just swallowed a spider- and not a tasty one at that. "What's your question."

"Miss..." began Zhang He softly, "You know how in other countries people have more than one wife? Well, does that mean the wives are all married to one another as well?"

The substitute shot him a look like poison, and opened her mouth the speak. "Young man!" But the bell cut her off, and she was soon fighting her way back to her desk through a flood of students as they rushed for the door, sweeping Zhang He along with them. He escaped with not so much as a scratch.

Zhen Ji sighed as she made her way down the hall again. Up ahead she could see Zhang He prancing along up ahead of her, his long hair bouncing as he moved. Zhen was headed to the same place he was- their class-rooms were right next to each other, even though they were in different classes.

Zhang He paused outside the door of his Creative Writing class-room, and waited for the teacher to open the door. He was a good student in this class, having a nack for poetry and such than Zhen never could quite grasp.

Zhen waited by the door to his left, and leaned against the wall, looking over at him for a moment. She was mildly surprised to find that her gaze was met by his, and that he was glowing with his usual, energetic and bubbley smile. Zhen smiled faintly, and looked away. She had never been too great about making friends, and she wasn't even sure if it was wise to be friends with the eccentric Zhang He... after all, usually he got a lot of hell for his... flamboyant dress-style.

Soon more and more students joined them. Zhou Yu and Da Qiao soon occupied Zhen Ji, and she lost sight of Zhang He behind a mist of people that formed around the class rooms.

"I can't wait until the day is over!" Said Da Qiao, "Come to my room tonight, okay? You can bring Sun Shang Xiang if you want, I mean- she is your roomy."

Zhou laughed, "But I'm not invited? "

"It's all girls, silly." Said Da.

Zhen grinned, "Okay. I'll be there." It couldn't hurt too much, right?


	2. Right Back Where We Started From

Phantom K: Aaaahhhh!! School! Nooooooooo.... has an emotional melt-down and is escorted to an insane asylum

Psychologist: Koinu would like to say that she does not own any part of DW and should therefore not be sued. Please- have pity on a case such as herself.

--Chpt 2. "Right back where we started from."

Xiao looked completely disgruntled as she stumbled out of her last class with all the others, and was instantly shoved along through the sea of students so desperate to escape to the comfort of their dorms. Like a rag doll she was tossed about until she came into a sudden and sharp contact with a strong figure, sending her tumbling backwards- the contents of her book-bag scattering over the floor.

"Ouch..." Xiao rubbed her rear as she looked up at the barrier she had come into conflict with. Staring down at her with a rather perplexed expression was Sun Ce.

"Watch your step," he said mildly after a moment, kneeling down to help collect her books. "It's a mad-house in here."

"Er... yeah." Xiao quickly began to scoop up the papers that had tumbled from her bag. _Sun Ce, my sister likes you!_ Her mind screamed, but she did not want to ruin things for Da. After all- romance is such a fragile concept.

As Xiao scraped up her fallen school-supplies, Sun Ce carefully slipped a piece of paper between the first two pages of her history book, making sure his action was not noticed by her. "Here you are..." he handed it to her, and rose again as Xiao stuffed the last of her belongings into her bag.

"Uh... thank you!" And she was off again, her thin frame easily carried along through the crowd.

Finally she found her way to the outer courtyard, and looked around for a moment. She could see the two buildings which contained the male and female dormitories. The green grass lawn was untamed and stirred in the slight breeze. It was a hot summer, and everyone could not wait to get indoors again. _Dorm Ho!_

But Xiao was looking for someone. _Oh Zhou, oh Zhou? Where are you, Zhou?_ She stood on tip-toe and glanced around. No Zhou Yu.

"Looking for me?" An abrupt voice said right in her ear, and Xiao felt arms lock around her waist. Zhou had her from behind, and Xiao let out something like... well, it could only be described as a kind of high-pitched, happy-little-school-girl squeal as he lifted her clear off the ground for a moment.

"Congratulations, you escaped the class-structure alive!" Zhou continued as he eased his grip and let her free of his embrace.

"Barely," replied Xiao, holding out her book-bag for him. "Here- hold."

He obeyed, slinging the bag over one shoulder as she hugged him again, standing on tip-toe to kiss his cheek. Zhou wrapped an arm around her waist and walked her slowly towards the girl's dorm building.

"So what are you all going to do tonight?" Zhou asked after a while.

"Uh, nothing... why?" Xiao frowned up at him questioningly.

"Da invited Zhen Ji and SS over to your dorm tonight." Zhou always called Sun Shang Xiang 'SS'. It was a kind of a pet name.

"Ohhh! But I'm so tired..." whimpered Xiao, resting her head on Zhou's chest as they walked.

"It could be worse..." Zhou kissed the top of her head with some difficulty. "Come on, you'll have fun."

By this point they were both in front of the girl's dorm building, which naturally had more boys outside the door than girls. The student regulator at the door was picking out the females in the group and letting only them enter. Males were hastily turned away.

"Okay, Zhou-ie, see you later." Xiao grabbed her book-bag from Zhou and gave him a sparkly smile before skipping off through the doors."

For an instant, Zhou stood still as a statue outside the building, even after his beloved had disappeared through the doors of the dorm. Then, slowly, he turned and headed off towards the male dorm building, warm and content.

As he pushed open the doors to the dorm building, the student regulator looked up and him briefly and then back down at the papers in his hand, murmuring to himself.

Zhou jogged up the stairs to the second floor, and pushed open the door that led to the hallway. Room 50 was directly at the end of the hall, literally the last room on the floor, and shared by two people- one of whom was Zhou Yu.

He twisted the knob and found it unlocked. As Zhou entered the sound of running water from the shower met his ears, and he kicked the bathroom door. "Zhang? Zhang He?"

"... Yes?" A voice answered from the other side of the door, mingling with the 'tap tap tap' of the shower water.

"Just wanted you to know I'm back, so don't come waltzing on out with no clothes on." Zhou shifted his own backpack and waited for the reply.

There was a long pause, and then. "Oh come on, you know you'd like it." Came the joking response.

Zhou walked away, and chucked his backpack onto the bed, where it landed with a resounding 'thump'. Sighing, Zhou fished a book out of it, and began to study it intensely- now here was a hard-working student.

After about an hour Zhang He emerged from the bathroom- clean, crisp, and (much to Zhou's relief) clothed. He fumbled around in the drawers of his bed-side table for a moment, and soon was lying on his back on one of the beds shoved against the walls. He slipped on his head-phones and soon Zhou could hear faint traces of 'California' by Phantom Planet.

"How's Xiao Qiao?" Asked Zhang after a moment, staring up at the ceiling. His bed was blanketed in a purple-blue color.

"Why?" Zhou asked, looking up from the book and over at his roomy where he lay on his back. Zhou was never quite sure how to respond to Zhang He- after all, there were so many rumors. Often, various students would approach Zhou. _He's you roomy? Oh your poor thing! So tell me, what's it like? Is he really-_ Zhou sighed.

Shrugging, Zhang He tapped a button on his CD player, and Zhou lost the sound of the song. "I'm horribly bored... just curious."

"Well, it's none of your business, I guess." Zhou replied. "But she's doing just fine... and what's nearly as important: _we're_ doing just fine."

Another short pause, and then- "Allright..."

Nothing more was said, and soon Zhou could here the music seeping out from beneath Zhang's ear-phones again.

"California, here we come

Right back where we started from..."


	3. Something Big Just Happened

Zhao Yun: Phantom Koinu could not make it here today on account of an unfortunate summer-feaver. As a result, I will be reciting the disclaimer. (Ahem) Phantom Koinu does not own any character used in this story, nor does she own any part of Dynasty Warriors. Dynasty Warriors is the soul property of Koei and... that other gaming company.

(Muffled sounds coming from the closet)

Zhao Yun: . And, uh- that being said, I'll go untie Koinu now- I mean... give her penicillin! (scrambles off)

--Chpt 3. "Something Big Just Happened."--

It was about 6:30pm when Zhen Ji and Sun Shang Xiang sprang up the stairs of the female Dorm building to the third and last floor. As they padded down the carpeted hall, their eyes darted back and forth- searching for the room labeled 55. It didn't take them long to find it.

"Xiao? Da? Are you in?" Zhen tapped on the door, and it was instantly opened by an enthusiastic Xiao Qiao, apparently having forgotten about her fatigue.

"Oh my god!" Xiao shrieked, "Sun Shang! What happened?"

Sun Shang Xiang was sporting a large shiner, the result of an elbow to the eye in a basketball game. "Black eye," she said simply, "Lu Bu plays rough."

Xiao took a moment to think this over before standing aside and letting Zhen Ji slip past her. Sun Shang pushed her way into the room, greeted Da, and settled on a window sill.

The room was very... decorated. Oil-pastel pictures adorned the walls, and (on what was apparently Xiao's side of the room) a few snaps of Zhou. The two small beds were dressed with rather elaborate blankets, and they had painted the back-boards to depict lilly-pads and cherry trees.

"How pretty," remarked Sun Shang half-sarcastically from her perch.

Da laughed and rolled her eyes, but Xiao didn't seem to notice the sarcasm in Sun Shang's tone. "Thanks!" she chirped, and hopped onto her bed.

Da patted the bed beside her, and Zhen sat down. "I'm glad you came," Da said, "But um, Sun Shang? Do you want a hot compress for that eye?"

Sun Shang laughed and shook her head. "No, it's okay." She was used to it, after all. This wasn't her first time.

Xiao giggled, and looked past Sun Shang out the window. "I really want to sneak out the window and go see Zhou-ie." She said.

"Yeah, good luck climbing down 3 stories," said Sun Shang.

Nodding, Da added "And even if you did somehow, you know he rooms with Zhang He."

Zhen perked up a bit, "Really? Poor thing..."

Xiao broke in with, "Zhou-ie says it's not that bad. I mean- aside from the constant combing the hair stuff."

Zhen nodded mildly, and faintly chuckled, "You know how the science lab blew up last Thursday?"

"No..." Sun Shang turned away from the window, "When did that happen?"

"Well, actually... it didn't really _blow up_..." Zhen corrected herself, "But Zhang He and I were experiment partners, and he mixed the wrong chemicals... or, he put in too much magnesium and then..." Zhen paused as the room began to tinkle with laughter from all four of the girls. "Yeah- so he messed up the experiment and it made a toxic gas or something. The teacher made us evacuate the room."

Sun Shang had nearly fallen from the window sill with laughter, Da's shoulders were quivering, and Xiao had toppled over backwards on her bed, overcome by a multitude of giggling. Even Zhen laughed.

"Oh god... that's so sad," Xiao managed between breaths. "But I can see Zhang He doing something like that."

Sun Shang smirked away her last chuckles, "So... why didn't you stop him?"

Zhen shrugged, "I was sharpening my pencil." She shook her head, "Not my fault he's an idiot."

Da smiled, "Okay now, let's not be too hard on him. You all know he gets enough hell as it is."

The four girls quieted a bit, and for a moment there was a silence. After a moment it was shattered by Xiao. "Sun Shang," she chimed in, "Look at my schedule, I want to see if I have any free periods with you." She scrambled over to her book-bag and opened it.

"Okay," Sun Shang shrugged.

"Hey... what's this?" Xiao noticed a small piece of paper protruding from the pages of her history book and tugged it out. A moment later she squealed, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at it. It read-

_Give this to your sister, it's my cell-phone number._

_1-(818)-555-4239_

_-Sun Ce_

"Ohmigosh, ohmigosh! Da, Da- it's for you!" Squeaked Xiao.

"For me?" Da blinked and then slowly reached for the paper. All four of the girls surrounded her as she read it. There was a very long pause before Da looked up again. "Xiao..." she said after a moment, "You aren't just playing a trick on me, are you?"

Xiao gaped. "Are you kidding me!? Does that look like my writing."

Da gazed down at the paper a while longer, and then a large grin conquered her face. "Oh my... I bet I'm so red right now!" She was too. A light blush had crept across her cheeks. "Wow! I'm so excited! Augh... but my phone's dead!"

Her cell-phone was plugged into the wall nearby, charging. Da sighed, and then giggled, "It's okay, though. I'm too nervous anyways."

"No! Oh my god- no you aren't!" Xiao seemed to be the most excited of the four of them, and proceeded to make a frantic struggled through a small, yellow purse until she produced a folding cell-phone. "Call," she demanded.

"Uh- I'm freaking out..." Da punched in the numbers and raised it to her ear. The three other girls unconsciously formed a small pack around her, and Xiao seemed convinced that both she and her sister could listen to the phone at the same time.

After a moment, Da held up a finger for silence. "Hello? Sun Ce?" Da gave the thumbs-up and Xiao dove onto the bed with an excited squeak.

Da continued as the others looked on in silence. "Yeah, I got it... no, that's okay- don't worry. So, um, heh... what did you want?" A lengthy pause as Da nodded into the phone. "Really? Well... yeah, I guess I have, huh?" She was the color of a strawberry, "No! Okay... he he... yeah. Oh my go- I'm kinda embarrassed." Now there was a very, very long pause, during which Da froze and took on a kind of distant look. Then- "Yeah, sorry. I'm still here." She listened for a moment and then she did a kind of twirl in place which made Sun Shang place a hand over her own mouth to keep from laughing.

Da smiled blissfully, "Yes, sure... okay... goodnight." As she hung up, her face brightened. She turned towards her expectant company.

Xiao sprang up and hugged her sister as Da said: "You guys, something big just happened."


	4. I Hope Something Bad Hasn't Happened

Koinu: HEY EVERYONE! I actually _do_ own DW now!!! (holds up official documentation that states such)

Lu Xun: ....... Burn... BURN.... BURN!!! (burns my document)

Koinu: .... ;; Nevermind.... All characters used (sniffle) in the following story (sniffle) do not belong to me. No part of the Dynasty Warriors series, or any such related game (sniffle) belong to me.... (runs off sobbing)

Lu Xun: Uh... be thankful she finally updated. (lights match and stares at it) (pyro-ness)

--Chpt 4. "I Hope Something Bad hasn't Happened."--

Zhou Yu turned over beneath the covers, and faced the wall, his eyes open but distant and tired. By now it was well into the night, about 10:30 or so, and most of the lights were out in the neighboring dorms. The faint glimmer of a rose-scented candle on Zhang He's dresser was to only thing that illuminated the small dorm, and seemingly the only sound was of Zhang He's brush gliding through his auburn hair. It was about the thousandth time since he had gotten out of the shower.

Now, it wasn't so much that Zhang He cared _so_ much for his hair (though he did take very much pride in it), but maintaining his beauty was almost his version of fidgeting. When board or uncomfortable, people fidget. Be it nail-biting or hair-combing, fidgeting is natural.

And Zhang He was a very fidgety person.

"Are you _ever_ going to sleep?" Zhou groaned, closing his eyes and furrowing his slender brows. He buried his face in his pillow and moaned out something inaudible.

"You're pillow's muting you," replied Zhang He calmly, and found no response from his annoyed roomy. "Aw, why do you hate me, Zhou? Why does _everyone_ hate me?" It was a part sarcastic, part joking, and part serious question.

No Zhou Yu lifted his head, and looked groggily over at Zhang He. "Spare me the drama, man. No know nobody hates you, they just think you're...." but he never had time to finish the statement or find the right word.

There arose, suddenly, a shrill, high-pitched sound from outside. What was that horrible screeching. Zhang He leapt off his bed, threw open the window, and leaned way out.

"It's coming from the girls' dorms..." he said, as Zhou Yu dropped out of bed, and stumbled to his side. "Come on- we should check it out." He hastily began to pull on some day-clothes.

Zhou hesitated, sleepy. "They won't let us out this time of night..." But he was pulling on his clothes as well.

"Won't let us out? With all that racket? I hope something bad hasn't happened."

Zhou Yu was just beginning to get his groundings and become completely awake. "Hope everyone's alright." His mind was, however, on specifically Xiao Qiao of course.

In the girls' dorm it sounded like a giant was scratching his fingers on an equally large chalk-board. In the Qiao sisters' dorm, one voice rang out loud and clear, the others were silent.

Xiao seemed to be having a fit, shrieking as though she expected the world to drop out from under her feet at any moment.

Sun Shang Xiang felt her way to Xiao, and shook her hard by the shoulders. "Xiao! XIAO! Relax, it's just a power-outage." Indeed, a power-outage. A rolling black-out. The only reason the girls noticed was that they stayed up much later than the boys did- always whispering about something.

Xiao quieted, as Da fumbled nervously about for her night-stand. Her hand came up against it, and through the darkness came sounds of her sliding open draws and searching through them, pushing various items out of them and onto the floor. Finally there was a 'click' and Da stood with a flashlight, shining it around the room.

The scene appeared as follows: Sun Shang Xiang held a squinting Xiao by the shoulders, and Zhen Ji was on her feet, looking towards the window.

Da blinked, "Uh... is everyone okay?" It was an unnecessary question, but Xiao had been screaming pretty loud, and she could hear others squealing in the dorms around her.

Xiao looked up at the dominating Sun Shang and nodded, "Yeah, a little startled, that's all."

Zhen Ji had walked to the window and stood gazing out of it. "There's already a group on the grass waiting for us, I think." She was soon joined by the other three girls, and soon they were scampering down the stairs of the dorm building and out into the warm summer-night.

The outer court-yard was speckled with students and teachers, some in their night-garments. Zhang He was still pulling on his shirt as he sprinted across the grass with Zhou Yu close at his heels.

As the boys and girls intermingled, there arose such a racket, that it seemed the noise could be sliced with a blade. Finally, the headmaster silenced the student body through the mega-phone.

"Students! Quiet please." His voice boomed out, "The ladies seemed to have a tremendous reaction to the power-outage. Now you wouldn't have noticed if you had been asleep at this hour. I ask you all to locate the emergency flashlights provided in the front hall and return to your dorms. Please be careful about going up and down stairs. Go ahead and form your alphabetical lines for attendance."

It wasn't needed, but all the students formed their lines, and role was called. When the headmaster was sure everyone was present and safe, he demanded they all return to their dorms.

As the students pushed back and forth to get back to their dormitories, Xiao came across Sun Ce. He looked at her for a moment, and then smiled. Xiao squeaked and gave him the thumbs up. Had her sister finally found a steady? She certainly hoped so, after all, Da was pretty shy about such sensitive subjects.

Soon, the main hall-ways of both the male and female dorms were jammed as the students rushed for the flashlights. At about 11:40, the Qiao sisters and Zhen and Sun Shang had all returned to their own rooms.

Sun Shang lay in her bed, arms folded behind her head. "So... Da-chan and Sun Ce, huh?"


	5. What's Been Going On?

Koinu: Auuugh.... Sorry it took me so long to get this up, but I've been rather ill. (eenie-meenie-minie-moe) I blame.................. YOU!

Zhuge Liang: What? Why me?

Koinu: Because you're the only one in the room.

(INSERT DISCLAIMER HERE) DON'T SUE, IT'S BAD FOR YOUR SOUL!

-- Chpt 5. "What's Been Going On?" --

The next day things were back to normal- the power was back up, Lu Bu and Gan Ning were already outside the head-master's office (and it was only the third class!), and Zhou Yu was wide awake. At this point he was in Technology and Skills, graphing something on the computer and frowning over the small error windows that constantly insulted him.

Error- The folder you are trying to access has been deleted, or locked.

Zhou Yu bit his lip, and once again sought out the folder he was trying to open. It was there alright, but the computer seemed to have some secret grudge against him, and sternly insisted there was no folder that could possibly be of his interest. Of course, Zhou would never dream of asking for assistance, and ended up re-typing what he remembered from the particular and 'missing' folder. Good thing he was a fast typer.

Finally the bell rang and he saved quickly, springing out of his chair and grasping his back-pack. What now? Ah yes, World History. Zhou Yu met Da Qiao in the hall, and together they pushed they're ways through the hall into room 304. They sat next to each other, and Zhou looked over as Da placed her book-bag on the desk in front of her. As she fished through it for her history book, Zhou found himself examining a small slip of paper protruding from one of the small pockets. What did that say?

_Give this to your sister, it's my cell-phone number._

_1-(818)-555-4239_

_-Sun Ce_

Zhou's eyes flickered momentarily, for being one prone to jealousy and assumption, he had concocted the following explanation for the note: Sun Ce had given Da the note to deliver to Xiao Qiao. _His_ Xiao Qiao.

"So, Da..." began Zhou Yu carefully, "What's been going on? I mean- you know, what's up." Maybe she'd spill the news... he'd be damned id a jock like Sun Ce was going to try and run away with _his_ girl.

Da blinked at him, opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. She had made the girls swear not to tell about her a Sun Ce- after all, it was really 'too early to tell' as she had put it. "Nothing really, why?" Came her reply.

But before Zhou could pry any further, the teacher tapped the board with a ruler and announced that class had begun. Zhou sank down sulkily in his chair, and followed along as class proceded.

By lunch time he was in a strangely somber mood, and didn't join the others as they groaned and complained about the cafeteria food. Instead, he simply took his tray and sat down quietly at the table, picking at the dry-looking 'pasta' before him.

"Zhou-ie, is something wrong?" Xiao asked, and cocked her head at him.

Zhou looked at her for a moment, and then smiled weakly. "Not really." He watched as they were joined by Da, Zhen Ji, and Lu Xun.

Lu Xun jumped a bit as a heavy thud sounded out beside him. Liu Bei had slid into a seat and apparently tried to mash his own head into the table. Now Liu Bei sat with his forehead to the tabletop, completely still and silent.

"Um..." Lu Xun laughed nervously, "Are you alright?"

Liu Bei looked up and blinked around. His eyes had large circles under them and his cheeks were caved in. "I didn't get any sleep last night! Guys, I have an arithmetic exam and I don't understand about half the stuff!" He once again pushed his forehead onto the table.

Xiao giggled, "Silly," she declared, "You'll be fine!" She was met by a small moan from the disgruntled Liu Bei.

"Sit behind Zhuge Liang and look over his shoulder," said Zhen Ji sarcastically, "He's a whiz at math."

Zhou Yu rolled his eyes, but Lu Xun nodded and said, "Zhuge's a whiz at everything... it's annoying."

Again Zhou Yu rolled his eyes, and this time heaved his shoulders in a shrug, "He's okay." Zhue Liang and Zhou were long-time rivals... they each acknowledged it with a cool air of 'I don't care', or an impassiver shrug- but a silent determination to do better than the other was more than visible.

Liu Bei sighed and buried his hands in his hair, looking up again. "I don't cheat, you guys..." If there was anyone with insanely powerful morals, it was Liu Bei. He was also, however, a genuine whiner at times. "I _am_ being silly, aren't I, Xiao?" He said at last, and pursed his lips a bit. "It's just one test, right? It won't count for _that_ much..."

Xiao beamed. "Of course not!"

Zhou Yu winced. Obviously she had not yet received the not from Da, he told himself, but what would be her reaction? He instantly found himself searching madly through the people with his eyes in an attempt to locate the cause of his problems. But he couldn't seem to find Sun Ce.

"You know what?" Zhen Ji's sassy voice cut through his little man-hunt. "Senior Prank Day is coming..." as she said this, her voice dropped in volume. "I think we will have to carry on the tradition."

Her statement was met by silence... then Lu Xun spoke, "Er... I'm doing pretty well in school right now, and I don't really want to get in trouble now. Maybe we should just leave that kind of stuff to... well, Gan Ning or Lu Bu."

Zhen Ji raised an eyebrow, "Well they can help too." She said with her usually wry-yet-joking tone.

Xiao put a hand to her lips to stifle a fit of giggles. "Don't be chicken, Lu Xun! This sounds fun..." she looked hopefully at Zhou Yu, "What do you think?"

Zhou Yu found himself staring into the face of the thing he felt certain he would lose. Forcing himself to grin, he replied dryly "Yeah. Sure... fun."

Xiao hugged him, and then looked across towards Da. "Well? How about you, sis?"

Da nibbled on her bottom lip. "I don't know..."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!"

"Um... give me some time to think about it. I mean, do we even have a plan about what on earth we're going to do?"

All eyes turned back to Zhen. She met it with a smirk and a shrug. "We'll have to think on that for a while." She said.

Lu Xun shook his head. "You guys do all the thinking you want, but I think it's a bad idea. You guys will more than likely get caught, and that could lead to being expelled!" He frowned a bit, "So... you can count me out." Was his conclusion.

It was that moment that the bell screamed out the end of the period, and the group rose to their feet. Xiao gave Zhou a hug (earning her a glare from a teacher), Da wished the tired Liu Bei good luck with his test, Lu Xun marched off sourly (no doubt concerned by the talk of pranks), and Zhen Ji sauntered off towards Science.

On his way to his next class, Zhou remained silent, and grave-faced. He decided that he would try and gently taunt the information out of Xiao tomorrow, after she had received the note from Sun Ce. Zhou would get to the bottom of this somehow.


	6. Come With Me

Koinu: Ahhh............. Back in the swing of things again. stretches So sorry about being such a bad person and leaving this story alone for so long... but I HAVE RETURNED! DUN DUN DUN (dramatic impulse). Now let's see... you- get in there. pushes Zhuge Liang into the story I'm so sorry I left this for soooo long... school just has been HORRIBLE.

Random Soldier: I..I.....It's... LU BU!!!!

Lu Bu: I WILL KILL YOU ALL!

Me: Eeeeek! Before I get my head lopped off, I want you to know I don't own DW or anything! Please don't sue meeeeee..... is chased off by Lu Bu

--Chpt 6. "Come With Me..."–

As Zhen Ji ambled through the door of her science class, she found the substitute teacher absent- replaced by good old Dr. Tan, their usual science professor. Zhen was relieved to see him, glad that the boring menace of a substitute was gone. The other students seemed to share in her happiness, and chatted among themselves until Dr. Tan called for silence, and Zhen took her seat.

"Class," began Dr. Tan, "please calm down now... that's right, settle down. Mr. Zhang He, take your seat please." He watched as Zhang He sidled quietly across the room and took seat behind an empty desk. "Good. Now today we're going to be doing a lab-project, alright? Er- Zhen Ji, where did the substitute leave off?"

Zhen had been contemplating a plan for the prank she had suggested, and was startled at the sudden mention of her name. "Um... excuse me? What?"

"Where did the substitute leave off?" Dr. Tan took to looking through a binder full of papers.

"Uh..." she looked around for a moment, "Water pressure, I think."

"Right, that's right... okay. Please turn to page 10 in your binders, you will be doing project 5. Please find your assigned partners and begin immediately."

Zhen Ji sighed heavily and turned to find that her partner had already pranced over to her desk, and was grinning mildly down at her, almond eyes glinting. "Ready, partner?" Asked Zhang He, and led Zhen off to a lab station.

Zhen stared blankly at the project equipment before her- a large soda bottle with three tiny holes arranged vertically down it, duct-tape, and a sink. Apparently they were supposed to seal the holes with tape, fill the bottle with water, and by taking off the pieces of tape one at a time, observe the rate at which the water came out of the holes. But Zhen had once again let her mind wander to the prank, and did not hear Zhang He reading out the instruction sheet.

"Will you fill this up with water?" Zhang He's voice penetrated Zhen's thoughts. "Hello? Are you alive in there?"

"Wha- oh yeah, of course."

He pushed a beaker into her hand, "80 mL."

Zhen Ji nodded.

---

Zhou Yu sighed. School had just ended, the bells had just rung, and now the students all rushed like lemmings to escape the building and return to their dorms. But today, instead of waiting for Xiao outside the building, he headed for the library, where he had promised to meet the others.

For a while he waited just outside the doors, but no one came. Finally, a figure approached, and paused a few paces away- it was Sun Ce, and the look on his face was one of confusion.

"Were you... meeting the other people here?" Sun Ce asked, tugging absent-mindedly at his long pony-tail.

Zhou Yu felt his eyes widen a bit. "They asked _you_ as well?" This certainly hadn't been talked over with him and now, resentful and frustrated, he fumed quietly. After pulling himself together, he asked, "Who asked you?"

Sun Ce cleared his throat, and looked at the floor. "Xiao... and Da sort of... but she's shy." Zhou Yu didn't seem too happy to see him. For a while they'd almost become friends- but that was a year ago, and then things went differently for some reason. "Dude, do you have a watch?"

Zhou Yu turned his back and shook his head, not bothering to spare a word. Before long he could make out more forms coming into view- Da, Xiao, Sun Shang Xiang, Zhen Ji.

Xiao Qiao waved vigorously, and bounced up to Zhou Yu. Feeling it only right, she gave Sun Ce a small wave as well- for her sister's sake. Da walked hesitantly towards the group, and gave a small smile to Sun Ce, who shifted from foot to foot. Zhou Yu, being the jealous sort that he was, put an arm protectively around Xiao Qiao, and leered at Sun Ce. But he didn't seem to notice...

"Alright, does everyone know why we're here?" Zhen Ji asked pointedly, setting a firm stance before her peers. Many of them shrugged. Opening her mouth, Zhen Ji was about to explain when she found that her explanation was ambling carelessly towards them.

Xiao felt Zhou Yu stiffen, and squeezed his hand a bit. "Zhou-Zhou..." she whispered carefully, but didn't finish. She felt his arm go tense around her shoulders.

Walking towards them, accompanied by Liu Bei, Jiang Wei, and Yue Ying was the infamous Zhuge Liang, speaking calmly to his friends. Upon seeing Zhou Yu and the others however, Zhuge paused and stood still- the two rivals eyed each other for a moment, and the silence was broken by an uneasy 'coughing' kind of sound from Liu Bei. When all eyes turned to him, he smiled feebly.

After a moment, Zhuge turned up his nose, and began to walk past the others and into the library, but Zhen Ji took him by the sleeve. Zhuge looked down at it as though her hand was flilthy somehow. Finally: "May I help you with something?"

Zhen Ji nodded, "We waited for you. We need a favor." Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "As you know, Senior Prank Day's coming... you're smart. We need your help."

There was a silence, during which Zhuge Liang remained unaffected, and Jiang Wei pealed Zhen's hand away from his sleeve as though she were committing sacrilege. Zhuge took another look at Zhou Yu and shrugged, "No, I don't think so..." he nodded towards the door and they began again to walk.

"I guess that's fine." Announced Sun Shang Xiang loudly, turning towards Zhen Ji, "If not Zhuge, Zhou Yu can do it... or even better, Sima Yi. I'm sure he's daring enough."

Another silence- but this one shocked, and anxious. Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang were not merely rivals, they were enemies. They _hated_ each other- but then again, Zhuge had a knack for making enemies. He was frozen to the spot with his hand on the door-knob.

"Rival tricks won't work," Began Jiang Wei hastily, "Zhuge isn't falling for that." He looked to Yue Ying for reassurance, but she was gazing questioningly at Zhuge- a placid look of mild interest on her face.

"What is it, Zhuge?" Yue Ying asked quietly, and watched as he turned back to face the others, smiling thoughtfully.

"Well now I'd hate to see Sima Yi taking _my_ opportunity," Zhuge admitted coolly, "Now... let me see here, a prank, eh?" Everyone waited breathlessly, (except for Zhou Yu who rolled his eyes exaggeratedly) finally, Zhuge's eyes glinted mischievously, "Come with me..." and he led them towards the School Garden.


End file.
